


Swimming doesn't concern a ghost

by RedRaidingHood



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 17:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1865889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRaidingHood/pseuds/RedRaidingHood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy wants to teach Nico how to swim. Nico doesn’t want Percy to teach him, but someone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swimming doesn't concern a ghost

Only years of disciplined training and rigorously drilled motions stopped Jason from falling out of his cot when Nico suddenly stepped out of the shadows, sputtering and gesticulating wildly.

“Jason! Jason, fuck, Percy wants to make me go the beach with him!”

He blinked. Once. Twice. The son of Hades had gone silent, frozen in wait for his reaction. “So?” Was the best thing Jason could come up with. Internally he berated himself. _How eloquent, Grace. Nico bursts into your cabin, clearly distressed and all you can think of is “So?” This is a proud day for New Rome._

Nico’s arms were crossed, hugging himself. His hands clenched the fabric of his worn-out jacket and he looked at Jason as if he wanted the older to realize. “Jason, he wants to go swimming. With me.”

Jason sat up and gestured for Nico to sit down next to him. Nico sat close, but not close enough for Jason. He resisted the urge to sneak his arm around Nico’s waist, pulling him closer, hugging him and wrapping his body around the small boy. He didn’t. It’s not like Nico would’ve wanted him to anyway. Jason shook his head to get the thought out of his mind. This wasn’t the time to think of his slight obsession with touching Nico, this was the time to be a good friend and _listen_ to him.

Anyway, Nico liked Percy, and right now, it seemed that he had the chance to actually get close to Percy. Jason grit his teeth but nevertheless tried to smile encouragingly. “Please tell me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that kind of good for you?”

Nico sighed and pulled his legs on the bed, hugging his knees and burying his chest in them. “Jason, I can’t swim. He wants to teach me how to swim.”

“You can’t swim?” Jason asked incredulous. How come Nico couldn’t swim? Nico was a great fighter, fast and agile, and neither Percy nor Jason had as much control over their powers as Nico. Sure, both of them could still overpower him in a fight, but it wouldn’t be easy were they to go all out and honestly, Jason didn’t want to think about grappling with Nico, not right now when he needed a clear head, not images of those thin lips parted, breathing hard; his hair dishevelled and clinging to his sweaty face, dark eyes looking up at Jason with fire in them, almost passion – _Fuck_.

Jason clenched his hands in the sheets of his bed, glancing at Nico from the corner of his eyes.

Nico seemed unimpressed. “When would I have needed to swim?”

Yeah, right, he would just shadowtravel or something…

“Besides, you’re missing the point!” Nico exclaimed, pushing his body back, lying down on the bed.

Jason swallowed. “The point being?” He really needed to calm down and finally start paying attention to what Nico was talking about.

The younger threw an arm over his eyes and blushed. “Percy Jackson in nothing but trunks.”

“Oh.”

“'Oh' indeed.”

Yeah, right. Jason could pretend all he wanted, but Nico liked Percy, not him. He’d liked Percy for years now, it wasn’t like Nico would just forget about him the moment Jason wanted him to. Laying down too, he could see the stormclouds on the cabin’s ceiling drift over their heads. “What are you gonna do?”

Nico rolled to his side, facing Jason. “Honestly? I don’t know. I thought it would make me kind of happy, you know?” He propped himself up on one elbow, his free hand playing with the zipper on his jacket. “But it doesn’t.”

Jason blinked when a bolt of lightning illuminated the moving mosaics over their heads. He swallowed the jealously that had bubbled up and turned to Nico, smiling.

Nico’s eyes weren’t actually black, they were dark, but not colourless. If Jason had to pick a word for it, he would call them ‘obsidian’, but the stone only came close; nothing actually could compare to those mesmerizing eyes. They were pits of darkness; not cold, but final, like death. Not bad, but neither good. Jason could’ve lost himself in them, were he given the permission. Right now, they were full of emotion and Jason’s heart skipped a beat at the trust Nico showed him, baring his feelings, letting them bubble to the surface of those dark pools, for Jason to see.

“You’re not over him, are you?”

Nico shook his head, closing his eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever be.”

Jason’s heart sank. The mosaic-clouds turned darker, thunder booming through the dome, the air getting colder.

“But you’re missing the point again” Nico’s voice sounded hesitant and when Jason looked at him again, Nico fumbled with a strand of hair, not meeting his gaze. “Thinking of going with Percy doesn’t make me happy. He’s still pretty attractive,” Nico laughed nervously, pushing the strand of hair behind his ear and finally looking at Jason again. “But I don’t want _him_ to teach me.”

Oh.

_Oh._

Nico couldn’t mean him, could he?

Jason stared. He just stared and really hoped Nico would say something – or at least not hear how loud his heart was beating in his chest, the dark clouds over them dissolving a little, small specks of sky emerging between them.

But Nico seemed to get the wrong idea and sat up awkwardly, blushing. “I should go,” he said, facing the big, golden doors. He wiped his hands on his jeans and stood up. “Yep, I’ll better go. Now.”

“I could teach you,” Jason breathed, before he had a chance to register he’d actually said it. Nico froze and Jason inhaled deeply. He had to organize his thoughts, clear them up somehow and stop his hands from fumbling. Nico had come to tell him how he didn’t want Percy Jackson to teach him how to swim - He hadn’t said anything about not wanting to learn, just how he didn’t want _Percy_ to teach him, had he?

Jason sat up and took Nico’s hand. The younger still had his back to him, but he didn’t shrug him off, didn’t discourage him. Neither did he struggle when Jason pulled him closer, effectively turning his body to face Jason.

“I could teach you,” Jason repeated, taking Nico’s other hand too. He looked up, smiling shyly, still not really sure he was allowed to hope, but his heart didn’t care. Electricity ran through his whole body, warming his chest, his cheeks, his hands; Nico had to feel it too, the small currents that pulsed under Jason’s skin.

“I would like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Feel free to comment and/or criticize <3


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